Transcript The Eucharist 3 - St. John in the Wilderness Adult

The Eucharist 3
The Eucharist as
the Presence of
Christ
Introduction
The Last Supper
…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he
had given thanks, he broke it and said,
‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.’
In the same way he took the cup also, after
supper, saying
‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do
this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of me.’
For as often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NRSV)
Introduction
Four Accounts

Four accounts of the words of institution
(earliest to latest):
Paul: 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
 Mark (20 yrs. after Paul): Mark 14:22-25
 Matthew (20+ yrs. After Mark): Matt. 26:26-29
 Luke (20+ yrs. After Mark): Luke 22:14-20

Introduction
Four Accounts

Words over the bread:
All four agree “This is my body”
 only Matthew has an explicit command to eat


Words over the wine
Mark and Matthew: “this is my blood of the
covenant”
 Paul and Luke: “this cup is the new covenant
in my blood.”


More likely the original language
Introduction
John’s Eucharistic Theology
“I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the
manna in the wilderness, and they died. This
is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from
heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live
forever; and the bread that I will give for the life
of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves,
saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?”
So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood
have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the
last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood
true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my
blood abide in me, and I in them.
Just as the living Father sent me, and I live
because of the Father, so whoever eats me will
live because of me. This is the bread that came
down from heaven, not like that which your
ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who
eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:48-58
NRSV)
Introduction
Questions


“This is my body,” “This is my blood,”
“Those who eat my flesh and drink my
blood abide in me and I in them”
What do such statements mean?
We aren’t cannibals. It’s not “literally” what we are
doing
 It’s not purely “symbolic.” Christ is “present” in
some “real” way

Introduction
Questions

The Eucharist as a sacrament involves:

an “outward, visible sign”
Matter: bread and wine
 Form: broken, poured, eaten, drunk

that is a “door,” a “window” to
 an “inward and spiritual grace” (res) = the
presence of Christ within us


In the Eucharist, we affirm the Christ is also
“really present” in the matter of the
“outward, visible sign”. But “really present”
how?
Views in the Early Church
Cyril of Jerusalem, 350 AD
[Jesus Christ] by his own will once changed
water into wine at Cana in Galilee. So why
should we not believe that he can change
wine into blood?. . .
We should therefore have full assurance that
we are sharing in the body and blood of
Christ. For in the type of bread, his body is
given to you, and in the type of wine, his
blood is given to you, so that by partaking of
the body and blood of Christ you may
become of one body and one blood with him.
From Catechetical Lectures given to those preparing for Baptism
Views in the Early Church
Augustine, 354-430 AD
That which you see is bread and the
cup, which even your eyes declare to
you; but as to that in which your faith
demands instruction, the bread is the
body of Christ, the cup is the blood of
Christ…
… these things are called sacraments
for this reason, that in them one thing
is seen, another thing is understood.”
Sermon, 272
Views in the Early Church
John of Damascus, 665-749 AD
And now you ask how the bread
becomes the body of Christ, and the
wine and the water become the blood
of Christ. I shall tell you. The Holy Spirit
comes upon them, and achieves things
which surpass every word and
thought…
Let it be enough for you to understand
that this takes place by the Holy Spirit.
When we affirm the “real
presence” of Jesus in the
bread and wine,
what do we mean by
“presence”
and
“real”?
“Presence”

Local Presence


Temporal Presence


Presence in a particular place
Presence at a particular time or moment
Personal Presence
A presence in which a communication takes place
between two persons
 Does not necessarily require a meeting in time and
space

“Presence”

The multiple presence of Christ in the
Eucharist:
There is a gospel reading, so Christ is present in
the Word
 Christ is the true presiding minister, so Christ is
present in the human minister who stands in for
him
 Eucharistic community is made one body with
Christ, so Christ is present in the community
 After the words of institution, Christ is present in
the bread and wine

“Presence”


Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is a personal
presence which may be focused in the bread and wine
but is not localized to the bread and wine
“On any natural reading of the words ‘This is
my body’ or ‘This is my blood’, the
demonstrative pronoun must be taken as
referring to the bread and wine. We must not,
however, wrench the focus out of its context.
The bread and wine are not to be taken out of
the human, personal situation in which they
have their being as the body and blood of
Christ.” (Macquarrie, p. 127)
“Real”

Physical Reality
A thing is what it is because of its atomic and
molecular structure
 No one claims that the molecular structure of bread
and wine are changed to the molecular structure of
flesh and blood
 Jesus is not “really present” in the sense of
“physically really” “present”

“Real”

Non-physical Reality = “Metaphysical”
Reality
The “World of Ideas”
 Love
 “Good” and “Evil”
 Mathematics
 Meaning, Purpose

Real Presence
Theologies of the Real Presence



Transubstantiation
Consubstantiation
Transignification and Transfinalization
Real Presence


Transubstantiation
Thomas Aquinas, 1224-1274
Based on Aristotle’s view of reality: all matter
has two qualities:
1. accidents: its outward appearance, color, shape
 2. substance: its essential nature.

A horse is a horse because it partakes of the substance
of “horseness”
 A chair is a chair because it partakes of the substance of
“chairness”
 Bread is bread because it partakes of the substance of
“breadness”
 “Horseness”, “chairness,” “breadness” are metaphysical
realities

Real Presence
Transubstantiation

At the moment of consecration of the bread
and wine, a miracle occurs:

The substance of the bread is changed to the
substance of the body of Christ


The accidents of the bread remain unchanged
The substance of the wine is changed to the
substance of the blood of Christ

The accidents of the wine remain unchanged
Real Presence
Consubstantiation

Luther’s view:

The substance of both bread and the body of
Christ are present together in the bread (Christ is
present “in, with, and under” the bread)


The accidents of the bread remain unchanged
How the substance of both bread and the body of
Christ can be together is a mystery. Analogy (from
Origen, 185-254)
A piece of iron placed in a fire begins to glow
 In that glowing iron, both iron and heat are present
together

Real Presence
Transsignification, Transfinalization


Edward Schillebeeckx, 1960’s
Based on the view of reality that the identity of
a thing is based on:
Its atomic and molecular structure
 Its meaning or significance within the context in
which it is used
 Its purpose or end goal (“finality”) within the
context in which it is used


Meaning / significance, purpose /end goal of
a thing have a metaphysical reality
Real Presence
Transsignification, Transfinalization

At the moment of consecration of the bread
and wine, a miracle occurs:
The meaning / significance of the bread and wine
changes. They no longer mean / signify food, but
they mean / signify Christ
 The end goal (“finality”) / purpose of bread and
wine changes. The end goal / purpose of physical
nourishment is replaced by the end goal /
purpose of spiritual nourishment

A Last Word
John of Damascus, 665-749 AD
And now you ask how the bread
becomes the body of Christ, and the
wine and the water become the blood
of Christ. I shall tell you. The Holy Spirit
comes upon them, and achieves things
which surpass every word and
thought…
Let it be enough for you to understand
that this takes place by the Holy Spirit.
References


A Guide to the Sacraments, John Macquarrie,
Chapters 12. Continuum Publishing, New
York, 1997
Christian Theology, An Introduction, Third
Edition. Chapter 16, “The Doctrine of the
Sacraments,” Alister E. McGrath, Blackwell
Publishers, Oxford, 2001.